B.6 Infeasibility of Accounting for Delta Watershed Supplies in Regard to Metropolitan’s Member Agencies Metropolitan’s service area, as a whole, reduces reliance on the Delta through investments in non-Delta water supplies, local water supplies, and regional and local demand management measures. Metropolitan’s member agencies coordinate reliance on the Delta through their membership in Metropolitan, a regional cooperative providing wholesale water service to its 26 member agencies. Accordingly, regional reliance on the Delta can only be measured regionally—not by individual Metropolitan member agencies and not by the customers of those member agencies. Metropolitan’s member agencies, and those agencies’ customers, indirectly reduce reliance on the Delta through their collective efforts as a cooperative. Metropolitan’s member agencies do not control the amount of Delta water they receive from Metropolitan. Metropolitan manages a statewide integrated conveyance system consisting of its participation in the State Water Project (SWP), its Colorado River Aqueduct (CRA) including Colorado River water resources, programs and water exchanges, and its regional storage portfolio. Along with the SWP, CRA, storage programs, and Metropolitan’s conveyance and distribution facilities, demand management programs increase the future reliability of water resources for the region. In addition, demand management programs provide system-wide benefits by decreasing the demand for imported water, which helps to decrease the burden on the district’s infrastructure and reduce system costs, and free up conveyance capacity to the benefit of all member agencies. Metropolitan’s costs are funded almost entirely from its service area, with the exception of grants and other assistance from government programs. Most of Metropolitan’s revenues are collected directly from its member agencies. Properties within Metropolitan’s service area pay a property tax that currently provides approximately 18 percent of the fiscal year 2025 annual revenues (Metropolitan Annual Comprehensive Financial Report FY 2024 and 2025). The rest of Metropolitan’s costs are funded through rates and charges paid by Metropolitan’s member agencies for the wholesale services it provides to them. Thus, Metropolitan’s member agencies fund nearly all operations Metropolitan undertakes to reduce reliance on the Delta, including Colorado River Programs, storage facilities, Local Resources Programs and Conservation Programs within Metropolitan’s service area. Because of the integrated nature of Metropolitan’s systems and operations, and the collective nature of Metropolitan’s regional efforts, it is infeasible to quantify each of Metropolitan member agencies’ individual reliance on the Delta. It is infeasible to attempt to segregate an entity and a system that were designed to work as an integrated regional cooperative. In addition to the member agencies funding Metropolitan’s regional efforts, they also invest in their own local programs to reduce their reliance on any imported water. Moreover, the customers of those member agencies may also invest in their own local programs to reduce water demand. However, to the extent those efforts result in reduction of demands on Metropolitan, that reduction does not equate to a like reduction of reliance on the Delta. Demands on Metropolitan are not commensurate with demands on the Delta because most of Metropolitan member agencies receive blended resources from Metropolitan as determined by
Appendix B - 15
IRWD – 2025 Urban Water Management Plan – Reduced Delta Reliance
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